Ballistic Missile Defence

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many discussions he has had with  (a) NATO and  (b) Russia on Ballistic Missile Defence in the last 12 months.

Des Browne: The issue of ballistic missile defence is routinely discussed at a high level in a number of NATO and bilateral fora.

Uzbekistan: Politics and Government

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the government of Uzbekistan on human rights and the promotion of democracy.

Jim Murphy: The UK remains seriously concerned at the overall level of human rights in Uzbekistan. The UK regularly raises concerns on human rights issues with the Uzbek authorities, both bilaterally and with EU partners. Most recently, Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials raised concerns with the Uzbek government during a visit to Tashkent in May 2008. We also raise human rights and democracy issues frequently during discussions with the Uzbek embassy in London.
	The EU also regularly raises its concerns on human rights issues with the Uzbek government. The EU has welcomed the recent progress achieved in Uzbekistan in the promotion and protection of human rights and the rule of law, notably the abolition of the death penalty, the introduction of habeas corpus and the ratification of the International Labour Organisation Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. The EU also welcomed the release by the Uzbek authorities of several prominent human rights defenders in February 2008, including Saidjahon Zainabitinov. On 2 June, the Uzbek authorities also released Mutabar Tadjibaeva—a development we warmly welcome.
	The EU is prepared to support further Uzbek reforms in these areas while at the same time making it clear where we would like to see further progress. We welcome the
	Uzbek commitment to continuing the comprehensive and results-oriented human rights dialogue with the EU and look forward to concrete outcomes from this dialogue on 5 June.

Environment Agency: Finance

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated shortfall in the Environment Agency's budget for operating and maintaining its navigations is for 2008-09.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Environment Agency estimates the budget shortfall for operating and maintaining its navigations to be £11.3 million for 2008-09.
	The Environment Agency is implementing a new funding strategy to address the navigation funding shortfall. This focuses on increasing navigation income driving down costs and maximising the benefits delivered by Environment Agency waterways. Income will be increased through commercial ventures, greater external funding, securing funding from all beneficiaries and promoting greater use and public benefit from Environment Agency waterways. The strategy plans to close the funding gap by 2012 and achieve sustainability by 2020.

Floods: Hull

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how much of the funding to aid reconstruction following the floods in  (a) Hull and  (b) Gloucestershire in 2007 has been (i) allocated and (ii) transferred to each relevant local authority;
	(2)  how many applications for assistance from the funds announced by the Government to aid reconstruction following the floods in  (a) Hull and  (b) Gloucestershire in 2007 have been approved and paid; and how much has been paid in total;
	(3)  which transport-related projects have received funding from her Department to aid reconstruction following the floods in  (a) Hull and  (b) Gloucestershire in 2007;
	(4)  how much funding her Department provided to aid transport-related reconstruction following the floods in  (a) Hull and  (b) Gloucestershire in 2007; and how much of that funding has been allocated and transferred to each relevant local authority.

John Healey: In response to the 2007 summer floods CLG has allocated and transferred flood recovery grant (FRG) of £2,762,000 to Hull and £2,763,000 to local authorities in Gloucestershire. Flood recovery grant is unringfenced so local authorities have had the flexibility to decide how to best to use the grant based on their own local circumstances. Allocations of FRG were made on the basis of the best available data held by local authorities at the time on the number of households affected by flooding.
	Following the summer 2007 floods, DSCF made available £3,214,424 to Hull, and £1,007,900 to Gloucestershire. These sums, which could be used for a range of purposes relating to schools and children's services, have already been transferred to the local authorities. DCSF's payments to local authorities were calculated according to a formula based on the number of schools severely, significantly or slightly damaged by the floods, the number of flooded homes, and the number of pupils in flooded schools—the latter two indicators to act as a proxy for the impact on other services for children, young people and families.
	DCSF is discussing with Hull an application for exceptional capital funding for costs arising from the floods; the amount of this application is currently under discussion, and nothing has yet been paid. There has been no claim from Gloucestershire for such funding.
	An initial claim submitted by Gloucestershire county council under the Department for Transport's emergency capital highways maintenance scheme has been processed and the £10.048 million allocated has been transferred to the authority. The funding received by the authority covers mainly repairs to landslips, roads, footways, structures, drainage and traffic signals.
	Gloucestershire has submitted evidence to support a further claim which the Department for Transport is considering. They expect the authority to submit additional evidence to support further repair works in due course.
	Kingston Upon Hull city council have not submitted a claim under the Department for Transport's emergency capital highways maintenance scheme.
	In addition Hull has received Bellwin payments amounting to £2,097,817 and Gloucestershire (this includes the county council, police authority and relevant district councils) has received £4,447,964 in Bellwin payments. Bellwin is a scheme of emergency financial assistance to help local authorities meet uninsurable costs they incur when dealing with the aftermath of an emergency in their area, rather than to fund recovery.

NHS: Cleaning Services

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 May 2008,  Official Report, column 1019W, on NHS: cleaning services, if he will provide figures on decontamination reprocessing of surgical instruments and compliance with the standards contained within the Medical Devices Directive (93/42/EEC), broken down by acute trust, indicating where services are  (a) contracted out to the private sector and  (b) provided in-house.

Ann Keen: Where decontamination services are undertaken only for internal use by the same national health service trust or other NHS body, policy requires compliance with the 'essential requirements' of the medical devices directive (93/42 EC) and associated regulations.
	Where NHS units provide services to other NHS bodies, or to independent sector providers, they are subject to the full requirements of the Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (SI 618) and 2003 Amendments (SI 1697). In these instances, the unit will be subject to a third party audit programme by a recognised notified body. Notified bodies are designated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency who also regularly audit their performance. The MHRA does not collate or receive information completed by a notified body on its routine audit of such reprocessors. Should a reprocessor no longer comply with the appropriate requirements, the notified body may revoke their approval and inform the MHRA accordingly. This specific information on individual registrations is not available for public disclosure under article 20 of the medical devices directive (93/42 EC).
	The Healthcare Commission has regulatory responsibility for health care standards and as part of an annual health check, requires all NHS trusts to assess their performance against a set of core standards which include references to the medical devices directive (MDD) (93/42 EEC), and to publicly declare this information. The Healthcare Commission supplements this self-assessment with feedback from a variety of local stakeholders including patient and public involvement forums, local authority overview and scrutiny committees, strategic health authorities and, in the case of foundation trusts, boards of governors.
	The Declarations of Compliance for acute trusts for 2006-07 (the latest available) have been placed in the Library.
	Data on the sterile services activity is collected annually from NHS organisations on a voluntary basis for benchmarking purposes and the latest available data has been placed in the Library.
	It is the responsibility of each individual NHS trust to make suitable arrangements for decontamination services. Data on the number of trusts who contract this work out is not routinely collected centrally. However, the following trusts are taking part in the NHS National Decontamination Programme:
	Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
	Birmingham Dental Hospital (South Birmingham Primary Care Trust)
	Birmingham Women's Healthcare NHS Trust
	Bradford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
	Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust
	Christie NHS Hospitals Trust
	Good Hope Hospital (now part of the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust)
	Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust
	North Cheshire NHS Hospitals Trust
	Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
	South Manchester Foundation Trust
	The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
	The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
	Trafford Hospital NHS Trust
	University Hospitals of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
	University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

Suicide: Mentally Ill

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many suicides of mental health patients there were in each mental health trust in each of the last five years.

Ivan Lewis: These data requested are not held centrally.
	Information on suicides by people in contact with mental health services is collected by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (NCI).

Aviation: Exhaust Emissions

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on the commitment in the Gleneagles G8 Climate Change Action Plan to support climate science research on specific aviation-related atmospheric issues to inform technological and operational responses; and what responses have resulted.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport funds aviation related climate change research at Manchester Metropolitan University worth about £350,000 pa. This includes collaborative domestic and international projects on the climate science of aviation emissions and co-leading a major international workshop to assess aviation's environmental impacts.
	A further example of collaboration is the ED funded programme ATTICA which is assessing transports impacts on climate change. This ensures that the Department's scientific advice reflects the contribution of other sectors such as the marine sector, power generation and roads.
	The Government are supporting project OMEGA, a grouping of seven universities, co-ordinating UK research and dissemination of a wide range of aviations environmental issues in partnership with stakeholders.
	The Department also supports a PhD studentship at Oxford University investigating the Microphysics and Aviation Induced Cirrus Cloud.
	Application of these investigations through advanced technology and operational changes is for the long-term.

Bus Services: Concessions

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the policy objectives are of requiring pensioners to renew their concessionary bus passes in 2011; and what the expected cost is of this policy.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 9 June 2008
	The requirement to have an expiry date on passes is intended to help prevent fraudulent use of passes by ensuring that no pass can simply be used indefinitely.
	The expiry date must be no more that five years from the date of issue, but local authorities are free to choose any expiry date within that period. This approach allows local authorities to stagger the expiry dates of passes issued in April 2008 in order to avoid having to re-issue all passes on the same date in five years' time.
	We consulted on the proposal to include an expiry date in 2007. Over 90 per cent. of respondents agreed that there should be an expiry data and over 80 per cent. agreed that five years was an appropriate time.
	Of those who did not agree, nearly half felt it should be shorter than five years. The majority of responses to the consultation were received from local authorities, who are responsible for issuing, and paying for, passes.
	We estimate that the cost of producing a pass is around £2 per pass though it is not possible to give a definite figure as there are a number of different suppliers who charge varying prices. Just over six million people have received passes to date. It should be recognised that the cost of requiring passes to be renewed regularly will result in saving in the reduction of fraud.

Ports: Wales

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passengers  (a) entered and  (b) left each port in Wales in the last 12 years; and what tonnage of (i) imports and (ii) exports there was from each port in each year.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Floods: Hull

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many transport-related applications for assistance from the funds announced by the Government to aid reconstruction following the floods in (a) Hull and (b) Gloucestershire in 2007 have been approved and paid; and how much has been paid in total.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	In response to the 2007 summer floods CLG has allocated and transferred flood recovery grant (FRG) of £2,762,000 to Hull and £2,763,000 to local authorities in Gloucestershire. Flood recovery grant is unringfenced so local authorities have had the flexibility to decide how to best to use the grant based on their own local circumstances. Allocations of FRG were made on the basis of the best available data held by local authorities at the time on the number of households affected by flooding.
	Following the summer 2007 floods, DSCF made available £3,214,424 to Hull, and £1,007,900 to Gloucestershire. These sums, which could be used for a range of purposes relating to schools and children's services, have already been transferred to the local authorities. DCSF's payments to local authorities were calculated according to a formula based on the number of schools severely, significantly or slightly damaged by the floods, the number of flooded homes, and the number of pupils in flooded schools—the latter two indicators to act as a proxy for the impact on other services for children, young people and families.
	DCSF is discussing with Hull an application for exceptional capital funding for costs arising from the floods; the amount of this application is currently under discussion, and nothing has yet been paid. There has been no claim from Gloucestershire for such funding.
	An initial claim submitted by Gloucestershire county council under the Department for Transport's emergency capital highways maintenance scheme has been processed and the £10.048 million allocated has been transferred to the authority. The funding received by the authority covers mainly repairs to landslips, roads, footways, structures, drainage and traffic signals.
	Gloucestershire has submitted evidence to support a further claim which the Department for Transport is considering. They expect the authority to submit additional evidence to support further repair works in due course.
	Kingston Upon Hull city council have not submitted a claim under the Department for Transport's emergency capital highways maintenance scheme.
	In addition Hull has received Bellwin payments amounting to £2,097,817 and Gloucestershire (this includes the county council, police authority and relevant district councils) has received £4,447,964 in Bellwin payments. Bellwin is a scheme of emergency financial assistance to help local authorities meet uninsurable costs they incur when dealing with the aftermath of an emergency in their area, rather than to fund recovery.

Incapacity Benefit: Standards

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what mechanisms he has put in place to measure progress towards the target of reducing the number receiving incapacity benefit by one million by 2015; and whether such mechanisms will measure total  (a) off-flow and  (b) net reductions.

Anne McGuire: Our aim is to reduce the case load by one million over a decade, starting from May 2005. We publish statistics for incapacity benefits on a quarterly basis, covering both off-flows and case loads. This data provides an effective mechanism for assessing progress towards our goals.

Poverty: Children

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of children who would be lifted out of poverty if all households claimed in full their entitlement of council tax credit.

James Plaskitt: To date, around 200,000 children have been lifted out of poverty as a result of their households claiming council tax benefit. Just under 50,000 further children would be lifted out of poverty if all households claimed their full entitlement to council tax benefit.
	We have put in place measures to ensure take-up is improved generally and this includes young families. For example, we have simplified the application process to ensure that families can claim council tax benefit in a combined process alongside claims for income support and jobseeker's allowance. This means that they do not have to contact the council to make a separate claim for council tax benefit.
	We have also run promotional campaigns in each of the last five years to increase awareness of council tax benefit. In March 2008, regional press advertising was used to promote uptake of council tax benefit, aimed at pensioners and people of working age, with greatest focus in areas where our data suggests take-up may be low. We also provided marketing materials promoting council tax benefit to local authorities to be included in council tax bills.
	 Notes:
	1. Households are defined as being in poverty if their income is less than 60 per cent. of the national median equivalised income level. Income here is measured on a before housing costs basis.
	2. These figures have been derived using the Policy Simulation Model (PSM) which uses data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). These are estimated indicative figures.
	3. The PSM models the calculation of individual taxes and income-related benefit entitlement, by deriving detailed microdata from the latest available FRS.
	4. The PSM models the current policy year (2007-08) using the latest FRS data (2005-06), by uprating the FRS to represent the appropriate policy year.
	5. This estimated 50,000 is a relatively small change and should be treated with caution.

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful prosecutions there were for selling alcohol to people under the age of 18 years from  (a) on premises and  (b) off premises in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 31 March 2008
	The number of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences relating to the sale of alcohol to people under the age of 18 years in England and Wales by police force area can be viewed in the following table. It is not possible to differentiate between sales from on premises or off premises, neither is it possible to break down the Court Proceedings Database by local authority area.
	
		
			  Number of defendants found guilty at all courts for selected alcohol offences, broken down by police force area, England and Wales, 2002 - 06( 1, 2, 3, 4) 
			  Force  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset — 2 — 10 5 
			 Bedfordshire 1 1 5 9 22 
			 Cambridgeshire — — 1 7 21 
			 Cheshire 3 5 15 5 6 
			 Cleveland 1 1 8 12 7 
			 Cumbria — — 1 6 1 
			 Derbyshire — 24 13 6 7 
			 Devon and Cornwall — — 11 3 4 
			 Dorset — 8 3 7 — 
			 Durham — — 2 — — 
			 Essex 2 7 — 8 10 
			 Gloucestershire — — 1 5 10 
			 Greater Manchester 28 87 135 92 112 
			 Hampshire 3 — 7 8 — 
			 Hertfordshire — — 6 1 35 
			 Humberside — — 5 1 3 
			 Kent 3 10 11 10 2 
			 Lancashire 7 13 15 65 22 
			 Leicestershire 9 11 4 15 31 
			 Lincolnshire — 11 3 1 1 
			 Merseyside 6 27 9 11 16 
			 Metropolitan Police 9 77 134 206 199 
			 Norfolk — 1 3 1 — 
			 North Yorkshire — 1 17 1 19 
			 Northamptonshire 1 — — 6 10 
			 Northumbria 4 31 35 55 23 
			 Nottinghamshire — 2 — 9 29 
			 South Yorkshire — — — 8 9 
			 Staffordshire 3 6 2 12 21 
			 Suffolk — — — 3 2 
			 Surrey 2 2 8 11 17 
			 Sussex — 7 3 1 20 
			 Thames Valley — 4 9 5 14 
			 Warwickshire — 23 25 7 2 
			 West Mercia — 6 3 15 7 
			 West Midlands 4 19 40 63 60 
			 West Yorkshire 8 1 20 11 10 
			 Wiltshire 1 3 3 9 6 
			 Dyfed-Powys 1 5 11 4 15 
			 Gwent 5 2 12 12 14 
			 North Wales 1 5 4 10 4 
			 South Wales 3 17 24 41 58 
			 Total 105 419 608 772 854 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Data includes the following offence descriptions and corresponding statutes: Holder of occasional permission or his agent knowingly selling to, knowingly allow consumption by or allowing any person to sell, intoxicating liquor to a person under 18. Selling etc. intoxicating liquor to person under 18 for consumption on the premises. Licensing (Occasional Permissions) Act 1983 schedule (sec 3) para 4(1). Licensing Act 1964 sec 169(1). Sale of alcohol to a person under 18 Licensing Act 2003 S.146(1) Wholesaler selling intoxicating liquor to a person under 18. Licensing Act 1964 sec 181A(1) as added by Licensing Act 1988 sec 17. Allow sale of alcohol to an individual under 18. Licensing Act 2003 sec 147(1) and (5). (4) The Licensing Act 2003 came into force on 24 November 2005.  Sources: Court proceedings data held by RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform Ministry of Justice

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there were for being drunk and disorderly of defendants aged 10 to 17 years in  (a) England and Wales and  (b) each police force area in England in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The number of defendants aged 10 to 17 years proceeded against at magistrates courts for drunk and disorderly related offences by police force area in England and in England and Wales for the years 1997 to 2006 can be viewed in the following table.
	
		
			  N umber  of defendants aged 10 to 17 years who were proceeded against at magistrates' courts for drunk and disorderly related offences in England and Wales, and by police force area in England( 1, 2, 3, 4) 
			  Force  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 16 13 13 13 27 22 25 18 25 25 
			 Bedfordshire 2 14 6 12 12 6 15 16 11 7 
			 Cambridgeshire 8 5 13 7 10 4 16 19 12 13 
			 Cheshire 56 56 46 50 57 59 59 63 11 14 
			 City of London 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cleveland 84 75 91 62 74 78 75 66 25 18 
			 Cumbria 79 62 61 47 53 51 63 53 42 48 
			 Derbyshire 24 19 8 19 29 34 34 45 25 18 
			 Devon and Cornwall 40 40 34 65 89 64 78 97 69 82 
			 Dorset 17 21 13 22 25 27 30 12 5 10 
			 Durham 32 54 67 57 50 61 59 55 76 52 
			 Essex 42 43 42 69 53 29 27 27 11 11 
			 Gloucestershire 17 7 11 12 9 9 14 9 8 5 
			 Greater Manchester 55 65 62 106 93 77 67 47 25 21 
			 Hampshire 51 87 101 85 84 81 83 85 62 33 
			 Hertfordshire 21 14 25 27 31 36 28 20 29 10 
			 Humberside 14 8 23 24 23 26 16 27 17 19 
			 Kent 46 42 63 80 87 85 125 132 71 69 
			 Lancashire 79 110 164 186 210 201 209 124 80 92 
			 Leicestershire 3 1 7 1 5 2 1 0 1 0 
			 Lincolnshire 35 58 47 31 40 44 43 48 12 2 
			 Merseyside 287 196 168 198 167 166 170 129 72 77 
			 Metropolitan Police 52 51 57 75 113 90 103 70 27 34 
			 Norfolk 2 5 4 4 8 8 12 8 3 3 
			 North Yorkshire 12 19 30 29 34 36 39 21 32 27 
			 Northamptonshire 1 0 1 3 1 3 5 6 2 4 
			 Northumbria 255 316 334 373 367 384 409 471 515 441 
			 Nottinghamshire 32 36 37 22 33 26 25 14 16 18 
			 South Yorkshire 85 80 103 127 94 116 125 127 54 64 
			 Staffordshire(5) 20 17 23 0 17 25 42 23 24 12 
			 Suffolk 7 6 13 19 27 36 39 36 20 8 
			 Surrey 20 22 13 25 34 34 31 28 32 13 
			 Sussex 32 30 11 41 43 54 62 46 41 37 
			 Thames Valley 39 59 48 47 84 64 50 63 42 36 
			 Warwickshire 26 23 28 20 26 11 14 9 3 7 
			 West Mercia 37 34 34 35 59 45 31 63 64 51 
			 West Midlands 45 27 13 30 22 39 43 35 20 42 
			 West Yorkshire 134 158 205 187 165 127 169 66 62 128 
			 Wiltshire 9 21 12 19 18 26 25 30 16 14 
			 England and Wales 2,028 2,111 2,247 2,410 2,536 2,451 2,614 2,372 1,816 1,685 
			 (1) Data is on the principal offence basis. (2) Data includes the following offence descriptions and corresponding statutes:  Being found drunk in a highway or other public place whether a building or not, or a licensed premises. Licensing Act 1872 Sec 12.  Any person who in any public place is guilty, while drunk, of disorderly behaviour. Criminal Justice Act 1967 Sec.91. (3 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4 )Figures include other: public bodies, companies, organisations. 5. Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.  Source:  Court proceedings data held by CJEA—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice. Our Ref: IOS 250-08 (Table).

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) prosecutions and  (b) cautions there were in relation to selling alcohol to children and young people under the age of 18 years in (i) England and Wales and (ii) each police force area in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and the number issued with a caution for offences relating to the sale of alcohol to persons under the age of 18 years in England and Wales, by police force area, 1997 to 2006 can be viewed in the following tables 1 and 2.
	
		
			  Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences relating to the sale of alcohol to persons aged under 18 years, in England and Wales, by police force area, 1997  to  2006( 1,)( )( 2,)( )( 3,)( )( 4,)( )( 5) 
			  Force  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 0 22 3 0 1 0 2 0 14 5 
			 Bedfordshire 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 7 10 24 
			 Cambridgeshire 2 7 0 4 2 0 0 4 9 27 
			 Cheshire 5 14 10 6 0 4 16 20 8 6 
			 Cleveland 0 2 0 0 1 1 4 10 14 11 
			 Cumbria 4 11 4 0 2 2 1 1 8 1 
			 Derbyshire 11 7 6 8 3 0 37 22 13 8 
			 Devon and Cornwall 0 9 1 2 0 1 0 12 8 6 
			 Dorset 2 6 1 0 3 0 9 10 35 7 
			 Durham 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 0 
			 Essex 6 7 2 0 2 3 7 2 8 16 
			 Gloucestershire 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 10 
			 Greater Manchester 21 27 21 22 20 39 129 180 117 160 
			 Hampshire 1 7 6 3 2 4 0 9 11 2 
			 Hertfordshire 0 3 0 1 0 1 1 8 3 40 
			 Humberside 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 11 2 6 
			 Kent 0 1 0 0 5 3 12 15 14 2 
			 Lancashire 17 3 6 1 13 14 23 22 89 32 
			 Leicestershire 1 3 1 1 1 10 15 10 27 45 
			 Lincolnshire 0 2 0 0 0 0 17 4 11 10 
			 Merseyside 8 3 0 1 0 14 42 19 16 34 
			 Metropolitan Police 13 13 17 2 19 12 113 167 253 236 
			 Norfolk 1 1 4 0 0 0 1 9 3 0 
			 North Yorkshire 0 3 3 0 0 0 7 22 3 68 
			 Northamptonshire 5 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 11 13 
			 Northumbria 34 92 41 17 17 8 38 51 79 41 
			 Nottinghamshire 3 1 7 0 0 0 9 0 11 37 
			 South Yorkshire 2 4 5 14 22 0 0 5 18 10 
			 Staffordshire 11 2 1 0 0 3 8 5 20 23 
			 Suffolk 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 
			 Surrey 3 3 1 0 0 5 4 10 13 18 
			 Sussex 3 3 1 2 7 0 8 4 4 33 
			 Thames Valley 2 4 2 1 3 0 6 28 15 36 
			 Warwickshire 0 1 0 0 0 0 27 26 7 2 
			 West Mercia 3 3 5 3 3 0 7 5 19 10 
			 West Midlands 11 14 28 18 8 10 20 45 76 74 
			 West Yorkshire 14 12 9 8 9 14 2 21 15 17 
			 Wiltshire 0 2 0 2 2 1 6 10 23 10 
			 Dyfed-Powys 3 3 6 8 3 2 5 24 6 18 
			 Gwent 13 5 5 4 5 9 2 20 16 21 
			 North Wales 1 1 2 2 1 1 7 5 10 4 
			 South Wales 6 4 6 0 0 7 29 34 55 72 
			 England and Wales 215 311 205 132 158 170 616 861 1,084 1,199 
			 (1) Data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Data includes the following statutes and corresponding offence descriptions: Licensing Act 2003 S.146 Sale of alcohol to person under 18. Licensing Act 2003 S.147 Allowing sale of alcohol to person under 18. Licensing Act 2003 S.147A Persistently sell alcohol to children Licensing (Occasional Permissions) Act 1983 Schedule (Sec. 3) para. 4(1). Licensing Act 1964 Sec. 169(1). Holder of occasional permission or his agent knowingly selling to, knowingly allow consumption by or allowing any person to sell, intoxicating liquor to a person under 18. Selling etc. intoxicating liquor to person under 18 for consumption on the premises. Licensing Act 1964 Sec. 181 A(1) as added by Licensing Act 1988 Sec. 17. Wholesaler selling intoxicating liquor to a person under 18. (4) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table. (5) Figures include Other: Public bodies, companies, organisations.  Source: Court proceedings data held by CJEA—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of defendants issued with a caution for offences relating to the sale of alcohol to persons aged under 18 years, in England and Wales, by police force area, 1997  to  2006( 1,)( )( 2,)( )( 3,)( )( 4) 
			  Force  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 0 6 0 0 0 4 2 7 0 0 
			 Bedfordshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cheshire 3 3 1 0 0 0 2 2 7 3 
			 Cleveland 5 0 9 7 1 1 0 2 3 5 
			 Cumbria 4 1 0 0 3 1 0 5 8 3 
			 Derbyshire 1 4 0 3 2 0 2 0 0 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 
			 Dorset 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 12 4 
			 Durham 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Essex 12 4 5 0 1 12 13 5 2 2 
			 Gloucestershire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Greater Manchester 25 7 5 6 8 0 3 0 0 1 
			 Hampshire 10 4 2 2 3 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Hertfordshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Humberside 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Kent 5 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Lancashire 11 5 2 1 4 21 19 24 15 7 
			 Leicestershire 0 2 0 0 2 2 1 7 2 0 
			 Lincolnshire 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Merseyside 20 2 4 1 5 11 4 11 4 13 
			 Metropolitan Police 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Norfolk 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Yorkshire 1 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Northamptonshire 1 0 4 13 1 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Northumbria 10 3 5 0 1 3 0 1 1 3 
			 Nottinghamshire 3 1 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 South Yorkshire 19 8 5 7 1 0 38 35 25 8 
			 Staffordshire 2 4 0 5 2 3 3 7 11 2 
			 Suffolk 9 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Surrey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 
			 Sussex 3 4 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Thames Valley 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 
			 Warwickshire 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 West Mercia 5 0 1 0 11 0 0 1 1 1 
			 West Midlands 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 West Yorkshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Wiltshire 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Dyfed-Powys 0 2 3 4 1 3 1 2 3 0 
			 Gwent 3 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 
			 North Wales 3 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 
			 South Wales 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 England and Wales 174 81 72 55 51 61 89 116 102 61 
			 (1) Data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Data include the following statutes and corresponding offence descriptions: Licensing Act 2003 S.146 Sale of alcohol to person under 18. Licensing Act 2003 S.147 Allowing sale of alcohol to person under 18. Licensing Act 2003 S.147A Persistently sell alcohol to children Licensing (Occasional Permissions) Act 1983 Schedule (Sec. 3) para. 4(1). Licensing Act 1964 Sec. 169(1). Holder of occasional permission or his agent knowingly selling to, knowingly allow consumption by or allowing any person to sell, intoxicating liquor to a person under 18. Selling etc. intoxicating liquor to person under 18 for consumption on the premises. Licensing Act 1964 Sec. 181 A(1) as added by Licensing Act 1988 Sec. 17. Wholesaler selling intoxicating liquor to a person under 18. (4) Figures include Other: Public bodies, companies, organisations.  Source: Court proceedings data held by CJEA—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice.

Human Trafficking

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many victims of internal human trafficking have been identified in the last three years.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 22 May 2008
	Data on trafficking victims is not yet recorded centrally. However, a database of trafficked victims is currently being developed by the United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC) to inform its work on the detection and prevention of human trafficking.

Students: Plagiarism

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment he has made of the findings of the Academic Misconduct Benchmarking Research Project.

Bill Rammell: Student plagiarism, which is the subject of the Academic Misconduct Benchmarking Research project (AMBeR) is a serious matter, but one for which higher education institutions, as autonomous organisations, are responsible for addressing. Institutions are supported by the Higher Education Academy and the Joint information Systems Committee (JISC) who recently jointly produced a report of the second phase of the AMBeR project. Although the Government have made no formal assessment I understand the report's findings are that there are clusters of consistency in the sector's approach to applying penalties for plagiarism but that improved recording procedures could engender a more complete and transparent picture of activity across the sector. Positively, the incidence level of formally recorded cases reported in the survey demonstrates a lower level of plagiarism than that reported by most surveys. It also suggests that the vast majority of offences are first offences which indicates that current punitive measures are successfully reducing repeat offenders.

Sustainable Development: Education

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on the  (a) skills required to enable the UK to benefit from innovations in sustainable development technologies and  (b) the qualifications which demonstrate such skills;
	(2)  what research he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the extent to which course in subjects related to sustainable development in further and higher education institutions equip students with the skills required to facilitate the take-up of sustainable development technologies in the economy.

Bill Rammell: Because the environmental future is not easily predicted, we need to create potential that might enable future industries and industry shapes that cannot be predicted today. On 1 May 2008, the Government published "Building a low carbon economy: unlocking innovation and skills". This sets out how Government will make the UK one of the best locations in the world to develop and introduce low carbon and resource efficient products, processes, services and business models.
	DIUS Ministers have met ministerial colleagues on a number of occasions during which the skills required the UK to benefit from innovations in sustainable development technologies have been discussed.
	DIUS officials are working proactively with employers, sector skills councils, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, and expert bodies representing the environmental industries, as well as other Government Departments (DEFRA and BERR) to develop our evidence and understanding of the skills implications of the transition to a low carbon, resource efficient and sustainable economy and to ensure that these, at the heart of our skills system, capture a strategic skills proposition for a sustainable future.
	An assessment of the qualifications required to support such skills will be part of this work and of the ongoing vocational qualifications reform programme. The programme will mean that employers, through their sector skills councils, will have a key role in determining which qualifications are needed to meet the skills needs of their industry.

Train to Gain Programme

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills 
	(1)  how many people  (a) are studying for and  (b) have completed a course of study under train to gain in (i) each region of England and (ii) local authority, broken down by level of qualification studied for;
	(2)  how many people  (a) started and  (b) completed the train to gain programme in (i) each region and (ii) each local authority area since its inception; and what targets for numbers of people participating in the programme there are for each (A) region and (B) local authority.

David Lammy: Since it was rolled out nationally from April 2006, Train to Gain has grown quickly. It has now engaged over 80,000 employers, supported 419,320 employees to begin learning programmes, and delivered 167,500 full level 2 and 21,800 Skills for Life achievements. Recent evaluations of the service show that both employer and employee satisfaction with their experience of Train to Gain is high.
	A breakdown of learner starts and achievements by region (and the LSC's National Employer Service, which works with employers with over 5,000 employees) is set out in Tables 1 and 2. Information on Train to Gain performance by local authority area is not held centrally.
	In the demand-led skills system that the Government have created, the geographical distribution of Train to Gain learners is driven by employer demand. I receive regular reports on Train to Gain performance at regional level, and have recently completed a series of performance review meetings with each of the LSC regions. All LSC regions are developing plans to deliver their contribution to the overall planned growth in the service over the period to 2010-11,
	
		
			  Table 1: Train to Gain Learner Starts (April 2006 to March 2008) 
			  LSC Region  Full Level 2  Skills for Life  Level 3 
			 East Midlands 33,420 3,220 2,270 
			 East of England 29,400 1,880 2,200 
			 Greater London 35,490 6,260 6,580 
			 North East 24,550 2,540 2,130 
			 North West 53,560 5,210 5,330 
			 South East 33,740 4,460 3,650 
			 South West 27,420 1,100 2,510 
			 West Midlands 44,790 5,490 4,790 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 32,090 4,220 1,720 
			 National Employer Service 28,890 6,710 3,700 
			 Total 343,350 41,090 34,880 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Train to Gain Learner Achievements (April 200 6  to March 2008) 
			  LSC Region  Full Level 2  Skills for Life  Level 3 
			 East Midlands 13,895 1,397 300 
			 East of England 12,645 691 290 
			 Greater London 10,627 2,568 780 
			 North East 13,492 1,721 560 
			 North West 25,629 2,384 1,040 
			 South East 13,426 1,862 430 
			 South West 11,577 564 330 
			 West Midlands 21,618 3,414 770 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 14,898 2,130 270 
			 National Employer Service 29,743 5,109 3,140 
			 Total 167,550 21,840 7,910

Departmental Pay

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of employees in his Department who received a performance-related bonus at their last appraisal were  (a) male,  (b) female,  (c) from an ethnic minority,  (d) disabled and  (e) not heterosexual; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The Ministry of Justice was created on 9 May 2007, bringing together the former Department for Constitutional Affairs, Her Majesty's Courts Service and associated offices, the National Offender Management Service, the Prison and Probation Services, and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. The current terms and conditions of employees within the Ministry of Justice agencies have not been harmonised and the former Department for Constitutional Affairs including Her Majesty's Courts Service and associated offices, and those within the Prison and Probation Services and National Offender Management Service and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. The latest available figures are provided from both the former Department for Constitutional Affairs and associated offices and from the public sector Prison Service are for those employees in post on the 1( )April 2007 who received a performance related bonus for their last appraisal reporting period from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 and are detailed in the following table for  (a) males,  (b) females,  (c) from an ethnic background and  (d) disabled. For  (e) not heterosexual information is not currently collated by any of the MoJ agencies but there are plans to begin collating this from 2009.
	 Former Department  for Constitutional Affairs and associated o ffices
	The former Department of Constitutional Affairs is committed to a pay system that recognises good performance by its employees and information on the number of staff receiving a performance related bonus as part of their appraisal is provided in the following table. Performance is assessed under the common performance management system. For employees whose performance is rated as exceeded a small bonus is paid along with the annual pay increase. The information related to performance related pay and does not include information of bonuses given through the Reward and Recognition Scheme that operates alongside the performance related pay scheme.
	 Prison and Probation Services
	Information on the number of public sector Prison Service staff receiving a performance related bonus as part of their regular staff appraisal is provided in the table. The information relates only to bonuses awarded as part of the normal appraisal system and does not include bonuses awarded through the Service's Special Bonus Scheme. Prison officer grades, operational support grades and health care staff do not receive performance-related bonuses and have therefore been excluded from the figures.
	 National Offender Management Service, and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform
	The National Offender Management Service, and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform are providing information as part of the Home Office response as at the same dates. The information that they have available cannot be broken down into just their areas and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  SIP headcount of those within the performance management system as at 1 April 2007 and performance exceeded box marks, 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 
			 Gender   
			   SIP headcount  Performance exceeded box marks  (a) Male  (b) Female  (c) Ethnicity  (d) Disability 
			 DCA 26,596 2,709 840 1,869 223 88 
			 DCA proportion (percentage)(1) — 10.2 3.16 7.03 0.9 0.33 
			
			 PSBS 16,029 3,617 1,512 2,105 130 145 
			 PSPS proportion (percentage)(1) — 23 9 13 0.8 6 
			 (1 )Calculated in line with Cabinet Office Guidance and Best Practise on Diversity of declared responses only.

Judges: Public Appointments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many people who applied for senior judicial posts in  (a) the last 12 months and  (b) the last 10 years have a record of previous judicial experience;
	(2)  what percentage of those people who have applied for senior judicial posts in  (a) the last 12 months and  (b) the last 10 years have a record of judicial experience.

Jack Straw: In the 2006-07 High Court exercise, 136 applied who had previous judicial experience. This equates to 94 per cent. Information relating to the years before the launch of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), in April 2006, cannot be accessed in the time available. I will write to the hon. Member once the information has been collated and place copies in the Libraries of each House.

Mortgages: Repossession Orders

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many mortgage possession orders were made in each county court in the East of England in each of the last five years.

Bridget Prentice: The following table shows the number of mortgage possession orders made in all county courts in the East of England since 2003.
	These figures do not indicate how many houses have been repossessed through the courts, since not all the orders will have resulted in the issue and execution of warrants of possession.
	The civil procedure rules state that all claims for the repossession of land must be commenced in the district in which the land is situated. However, county courts' jurisdictions are not coterminous with the borough boundaries, and therefore any single court's repossession actions are likely to relate to homes in a number of different boroughs.
	
		
			  Number of mortgage( 1)  possession orders( 2, 3)  made in the county courts( 4)  in the east of England 
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Basildon 478 612 910 1,048 1,057 
			 Bedford(5) 162 186 311 268 — 
			 Bury St. Edmunds(5) 113 124 191 220 — 
			 Cambridge 144 194 266 327 353 
			 Chelmsford 175 226 355 381 383 
			 Colchester 300 385 542 695 778 
			 Harlow(5) 139 183 258 310 — 
			 Hertford(5) 88 86 134 198 — 
			 Hitchin(5) 155 183 288 321 — 
			 Huntingdon(5) 105 121 153 222 — 
			 Ipswich 164 224 287 358 328 
			 King's Lynn(5) 152 165 273 378 — 
			 Lowestoft(5) 153 197 297 280 — 
			 Luton 340 458 718 859 818 
			 Norwich 220 251 414 490 430 
			 Peterborough 257 300 521 719 599 
			 St. Albans(5) 87 78 102 158 — 
			 Watford 249 258 418 516 508 
			 Southend-on-Sea 348 416 620 657 606 
			 East 3,829 4,647 7,058 8,405 — 
			 East and South East 8,201 10,050 15,220 17,693 17,824 
			 (1) Mortgage possession data includes all types of lenders whether local authority or private. (2 )The court, following a judicial hearing, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction. (3 )Includes suspended orders and orders made. (4 )Does not include the small number of possession actions entered in the High Court. (5) The rollout of the Possession Claim On-Line (PCOL) system in late 2006 has affected the availability of court-level data on mortgage possession orders. As a result it is only possible to provide court-level figures for those courts with direct on-site PCOL access for 2007. Therefore, upward adjustments have been made for the missing data at HMCS regional level, provided at the end of the table.  Source:  Ministry of Justice

Children's Centres: Disabled

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many Sure Start children's centres are implementing the early support programme for young disabled children; and when that programme will be available in all Sure Start centres.

Beverley Hughes: My Department does not collect data on the number of children's centres implementing the Early Support Programme (ESP). ESP was developed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Department of Health in partnership with a range of voluntary organisations and the central programme team has been based in the voluntary sector at the Royal National Institute for Deaf (RNID) since 2002, The ESP Programme Team's report in October 2007 showed that 99 local authorities were implementing Early Support, 14 authorities were starting to implement it, nine authorities had not committed to start the programme, and no assessment could be made on the remaining 28 authorities due to insufficient information.
	The Government have invested an additional £900,000 during 2008-09 to mainstream the ESP approach more widely. This funding covers continued regional consultancy to support and train LAs to implement and embed ESP, a national marketing campaign to raise the profile of ESP across LAs and health services and a new website which provides information for parents, professionals and service providers.

Members: Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when his Department plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford of 13 March 2008, concerning his constituent, Miss A. Fox which was transferred from the Department for Justice to his Department on 25th March 2008 (reference: 194104) and returned on 25 April 2008 (reference: 2008/0035703PO); and what the reason for the transfer of correspondence was.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 9 June 2008
	The reply has unfortunately been delayed because of an administrative error. My right hon. Friend the Minister for prisons and I will write to him very shortly.

Parents: Advisory Services

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2008,  Official Report, column 952W, on parents: advisory services, how much has been made available to fund the 77 Respect parenting experts; whether the experts will deliver the parenting programmes or refer and manage others in delivering the programme; and what the estimated cost is of funding at least one parenting expert in each local authority in the future.

Beverley Hughes: £3.85 million per year has been allocated for the 77 Respect parenting experts for 2007-08, 2008-09,2009-10 and 2010-11. In addition, funding for additional parenting experts (at least one in every local authority), is being provided: £9 million for 2008-09, £12.5 million for 2009-10 and £12.5 million for 2010-11. The expectation is that both the 77 Respect parenting experts and the new parenting experts will deliver parenting programmes themselves.

Schools: Admissions

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children in  (a) Canvey,  (b) Castle Point and  (c) Essex were not allocated places at their first choice school in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: This is the first year that local authorities were required to provide data to the Secretary of State on secondary school offers made to parents on National Offer Day. Data has not been collected at a constituency level. Figures for Essex local authority, in which Canvey Island and Castle Point are situated, show that 19.2 per cent. (3,087) of children resident in that authority who were eligible to transfer to secondary school in September 2008 were not offered a place at their parents' first choice school. 96 per cent. were offered a preferred school. National Offer Day is the first part of the process of obtaining a preferred school so these figures are likely change e.g. outcomes of appeals will have an impact.